ACMI’s current chief experience officer, Seb Chan, will be its next director and CEO, succeeding Katrina Sedgwick.
Chan’s promotion to leader of the national screen culture museum comes after a global search to fill the role.
ACMI board president Janet Matton said the organisation had “enormous confidence and enthusiasm” in Chan.
“Despite healthy competition for this pivotal leadership position, Seb impressed us with his vision for the museum’s ongoing sustainability and his track record in delivering outstanding creative direction and partnerships during his seven years as ACMI’s Chief Experience Officer and trailblazing work for international museums,” she said.
Chan joined ACMI in 2015, returning home to Australia from New York for the newly-created chief experience officer role.
The position saw him take responsibility for the museum’s experience and engagement division, guiding teams across visitor experience, marketing, brand and communication design, digital products and technology, as well as the museum’s collections, including digitisation and preservation of videogames and interactive art.
Chan played a key role in the design and technology ACMI implemented during its recent $40 million renewal. In particular, he was a driving force behind The Lens, a take-home device that allows visitors to digitally collect artworks and objects.
He also created and heads up ACMI’s CEO Digital Mentoring Program, which began last year and works with leaders across the Australian creative industries to foster their knowledge and understanding of strategic technology.
Prior to ACMI, Cahn led the digital renewal and transformation of the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York from 2011–15, and in the 2000s, lead Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum’s work in open access, mass collaboration and digital experience.
In addition to his role at the museum, Chan is also an adjunct professor at the School of Media and Communications in the College of Design and Social Context at RMIT; an international advisory board member of Art Science Museum (Singapore); and a board member of the National Communications Museum (Melbourne). He is also national president of the Australian Museums and Galleries Association and a previous board member of Diversity Arts Australia.
Commenting on his new role, Chan said it was an honour to build upon the work of his former boss, Sedgwick, who departed in March to lead the Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation.
He welcomed working with the Victorian government, the state’s broader cultural sector and the ACMI team to consolidate the museum as a place for diverse communities and families to experience the full breadth of screen culture, and to inspire the next generation of screen and interactive storytellers.
“Victoria has always been a global leader in screen innovation, from producing the early 20th century’s first feature film to interactive art of the early 21st century and our burgeoning local videogame scene,” he said.
“ACMI is a place where we gather to watch, play and understand how screen content is made and affects us. More than ever, ACMI provides a vital hub to come together and imagine alternative futures.
Victorian Minister for Creative Industries Steve Dimopoulos said: “ACMI is one of our most innovative, forward-thinking cultural institutions, and Seb is a groundbreaker and leader who brings great vision, imagination, and a deep commitment to making cultural experiences accessible and inclusive for all.”
While recruitment for a new CEO took place, ACMI was led by acting director and CEO Graham Jephcott, who now resumes his role as Deputy CEO and executive director commercial and operations.
It is a week of appointments for ACMI, having on Monday announced Gavin Somers as its first ever director of First Nations, equity, and social policy.
Chan starts his new role today.